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VIP program to expand in summer
Photo
Foley
By JOE GORMAN
YOUNGSTOWN
The police department’s Violence Interdiction Patrols will be ramped up once the summer begins in earnest, chief Rod Foley said Monday.
The program, which began its second year the weekend of April 26, has produced good numbers in its first month, yet Foley said officers working the detail say things have not been as hectic as they first thought. Foley said that’s fine with him.
“The guys are saying it’s kind of slow,” Foley said. “One thing I like to hear is [that] it’s very quiet.”
The program uses extra officers from the police department and other agencies who patrol areas where gun-crimes are known to have occurred. They are on the lookout for not just illegal guns but also people who are known to commit gun crimes and other acts of violence.
The department released the first month of statistics for the program Monday. Among the numbers, which run through May 28, are 40 felony arrests and 15 guns seized.
Foley said there will be more activity when summer begins, including curfew sweeps and driving-under-the-influence checkpoints.
Elnora Sipp of the 4 Square Block Watch on the South Side, which encompasses the Woodland, West Chalmers and Falls avenues areas as well as Market Street, said she has noticed a big difference in her neighborhood since the officers in the program have been patrolling in her area.
“Everything seems a little better to me,” Sipp said.
“I’m glad they’re out patrolling. I really, really like it.”
The department also helped clear up some of the trouble at the Falls Avenue Playground, where groups of young people would hang around and cause trouble. She said that has made the neighborhood better by allowing young children to have a place to play.
Sybil West of the Bennington Avenue Block Watch, which encompasses the Bennington Avenue and Katherine Avenue area of the East Side, said her area has not experienced a lot of violent crime lately.
“It’s been quiet,” West said.
Still, there are problems, such as an increase into the number of vacant homes being broken into and vandalism, West said.
She sees the increased patrols and said she likes them because it helps make residents feel safer and be able to go outside and interact with each other.
“I do see the police, which is good because it cuts down on the crime and you see more neighbors getting out,” she said.
Katrina Love of the Fosterville Block Watch on the South Side said extra officers on the street are always welcome.
“It’s needed,” she said.
She said she is especially looking forward to the curfew sweeps that will come later because most of the trouble in the neighborhood is caused by juveniles.
“I’m looking forward to the curfew being enforced,” Love said.
“That’s one of our main issues.”
Foley said visits to people on parole by the Adult Parole Authority also will be stepped up because someone on parole has to consent to a search of their home, and often those searches can turn up weapons.
Last week, agents on a home visit found a box of bullets in the home of a man who is not allowed to have them because of the terms of his parole.
“We’re going to change up how we do things,” Foley said.
There are 13 agencies who assist the city with the patrols and with decisions such as should some of those arrested face charges at the state or federal level, where sentences are tougher.